Rug holder

ABSTRACT

A device for holding a rug against movement upon an underlying carpet comprises two elastically interconnected substantially flat strips, one strip having pins extending from a face adapted to engage the underlying carpet and the other strip having pins extending from a face adapted to engage the superposed rug.

United States Patent Pollak Jan. 7, 1975 [54] RUG HOLDER FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS Inventor: Joseph Pollak, 132 Glen Ave, 826,357 11/1969Canada 16/16 Scotia, N .Y. 12302 [22] Filed: Oct. 19, 1973 [2]] Appl.No.: 407,921

[52] U.S. Cl. 16/8 [51] Int. Cl A47g 27/04 [58] Field of Search 16/5,6,15, 8, 9,7,10, 16/4, 11, 12, 16, 13, 14; 52/222, 747

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,045,294 7/1962 Livezey,Jr 52/747 3,314,119 4/1967 Hill ..16/16 2 f WW Primary Examiner Paul R.Gilliam Assistant Examiner-Doris L. Troutman Attorney, Agent, orFirmRiggs T. Stewart [57] ABSTRACT 4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PatentedJan. 7, 1975 3.858268 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H Mr H Patented Jan. 7, 19753,858,268

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 RUG HOLDER This invention relates to rug holders and ismore particularly concerned with a rug-holding device adapted to securea rug against relative movement with respect to an underlying carpet.

Wall-to-wall carpeting is becoming an increasingly common floor coveringin homes, particularly apartments, and in many business premises. Oftenit is desired to cover portions of the wall-to-wall carpeting with throwrugs of various sizes in order to enhance the decorative appearance ofthe carpeted area or to provide protection for the carpet in locationssubject to heavy traffic. When such rugs are merely laid upon thecarpeting, they tend to wrinkle and to creep or travel across the carpetwhen they are stepped upon, with the result that they become displacedfrom their original and desired locations and they present anunattractive appearance because of such displacement, which usuallyoccurs in random fashion. As a result, the necessity of havingrepeatedly to return. the rugs to their intended positions is acontinuous annoyance.

It is, of course, possible to secure the rugs by driving nails throughthem and through the underlying carpet into the floor. This procedure,however, has obvious disadvantages from the standpoint of damage to thecarpet, the rug and the floor and it makes it very difficult to free therug when it is desired to clean the rug and/or the underlying carpet.Furthermore, the supporting floor may be formed of a material, such asconcrete, tile, or the like which does not readily lend itself to thereception of nails or like securing devices. In addition, nailingdetracts from the appearance of the rug and, even with such nailing, itis difficult to hold the rug in a taut condition, free from wrinkles.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a device forremovably securing rugs to underlying carpets which holds the rugsecurely in place in relation to the carpet but which permits the rug tobe readily and easily removed for cleaning or for changing its locationon the carpet when desired.

It is another object of the invention to provide a holding device of thecharacter indicated which engages only the rug and the carpet and doesnot require engagement with the supporting floor.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a rugholding devicewhich will hold the rug in a taut, flat condition at all times and whichis completely invisible when in use.

Other objects of the invention will be readily apparent from thefollowing detailed description of illustrative embodiments of thecarpetsecuring device.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a rugholding devicewhich comprises a pair of elastically-interconnected substantially flatmembers, suitably in the form of strips or plates, one of which isadapted to engage and be secured to the back surface of the rug and theother of which is adapted to engage and be secured to the upper surfaceof the carpet underlying the rug. For engagement with the rug, the firstplate .or strip member, which will hereinafter be referred to as the rugbar, is provided with pins extending from its upper surface. The secondplate or strip member which will hereinafter be referred to as thecarpet bar, is provided with pins extending from its undersurface. Therug bar and the carpet bar are interconnected by elastic means, suitablycoil springs or the like, in generally co-planar relationship. Arug-holder, in accordance with the invention, can be engaged with eachend of the rug to be secured or, as will be described below, the rugholder may be engaged with only one end of the rug, and the other end ofthe rug may be secured or held in place upon the carpet by other means.

A fuller-understanding of the invention will be obtained from thefollowing more detailed description of the holding device, taken withparticular reference to the accompanying drawing wherein,

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a holding device embodying features of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken approximately along the line 22of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a phantom plan view of a rug fitted with two rug-holding unitsof the type shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an auxiliary rug-holding device adapted to beused in combination with a holding unit of the type shown in FIG. 1 whenonly one of these units is being used.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken approximately along the line 55of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a. phantom plan view of a rug fitted with the rug-holding unitof FIG. 1 and the auxiliary unit of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a rug removably secured to anunderlying carpet by means of the rugholding units illustrated in FIGS.ly and 4, as seen approximately along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to FIG. 1, therug-holding unit illustrated is indicated generally by referencenumerical l0, and comprises the rug bar 12 in the form of a thin plateor strip provided with rug engaging pins 14. The rug-bar 12 can be ofany convenient size, but it preferably is relatively thin, e.g., it hasa thickness of about l/l6 inch, and may be formed from any convenientmaterial which is strong and rigid, preferably metal and most preferablysheet steel. The rug bar 12 suitably has a width sufficient toaccommodate at least two closely spaced rows of pins 14, typically about1 inch, and it can have a length sufficient to extend across the majorportion of the end or side of the rug to which it is to be applied, orit may have a shorter length so that two or more of the bars 12 can bealigned from side to side across the rug. At least two rows of pins areemployed, but there can be more, if desired. The rows are typicallyapart about 1% in. and the pins in each row are typically spaced about lin. from each other. These spacings are of course merely illustrative,and may vary widely as will be obvious to those skilled in the art.Suitably, the pins in each row are staggered relatively to the pins inthe other row, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Cooperating with'the rug bar 12is the carpet bar 16 which may also be of any convenient dimensions, butwhich is advantageously approximately the same size as the rug bar. Thecarpet bar 16 has the carpet engaging pins 18 extending from its lowersurface. The pins 14 extending from the upper surface of the rug bar canbe at right angles to the bar 12, but preferably they are inclined at anacute angle 8 of at least about 30 in the direction of the carpet bar16. The pins 18, extending from the lower surface of the carpet'bar 16,are suitably also acutely inclined, e.g., at an angle of at least about30, in the direction of the rug bar. The pins can be of any convenientstructure, e.g., they can be thin, sharp nails frictionally oradhesively or otherwise, e.g., by soldering or spot welding, secured atthe desired angle in the strips or plates holding them. Suitably thepins extend through holes in the strips. Alternatively, the pins can beintegrally connected to the strips, e.g., they can be formed bystamping, punching or other metal-working procedure. The pins can be ofany convenient length so that they will firmly engage with the rug andcarpet, but they preferably should not be so long they will extendthrough the carpet and mar the underlying supporting surface nor extendthrough the rug to cause annoyance to persons walking on the rug.Typically, the pins extend about A inch to inch from the surface of thebar with which they are associated. The pins can extend the samedistance from both bars or they can extend different distances.Ordinarily, although not necessarily, the pins in the rug bar which areto engage the overlying rug extend a lesser distance, e.g., A inch orless, than the pins in the carpet bar.

A feature of the invention is that the plates or strips 12 and 16 areelastically interconnected. In the embodiment illustrated, this elasticinterconnection takes the form of steel coil springs 20 engaged, e.g.,in holes 23 and 24, with bars 12 and 16, respectively. It will beapparent that the invention is not limited to the use of springsalthough they are preferred, and that other elastic interconnectingmeans could be employed. Further more, while the spring-holding holes 23and 24 are shown on the near sides of strips 12 and 16, it will beapparent that they can be formed on the far sides of the strips and thatthe springs 20 can be provided with extensions, e.g., in the form ofhooks or the like not shown, which may overlie or underlie the strips,for engaging in such holes.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, when a rug-holding unit is to be used, the bar12 is engaged by means of its pins 14 with the underside of a rug 26.The end of the rug is then folded back and the pins 18 of the carpet bar16 are then engaged with the carpet 28 while placing the elastic meansunder tension. The folded part of the rug is then laid flat. The processcan'then be repeated at the other end of the rug with anotherrug-holding unit 10. This results in the rug 26 being firmly, butremovably, secured to the carpet 28 in a taut, flat condition, resistantto wrinkling and displacement when walked upon. FIG. 7 shows the units10 adjacent the ends of the rug 26; they can be engaged along the sidesof the rug, or even-diagonally across the corners of the rug. FIG. 7shows the rug securing units of the invention causing an exaggeratedupward deflection of the carpet in order to emphasize the relativerelationships but ordinarily the units willmerely sink into the pile ofthe underlying carpet and will cause little or no deflection of the rug.

As previously mentioned, the effective securing of the rug to the carpetcan also be realized by using a rugholding unit 1 only at one end of therug if the other end of the rug is effectively secure to the underlyingcarpet. For this purpose there is preferably used a holding device ofthe type shown in FIG. 4 which comprises a holder unit 30 formed from aplate or strip which can be of any dimension, but which isadvantageously of the same size and shape as each of bars 12 and 16, andis provided with pins 32 extending from its upper surface and withpins'34 extending from its lower surface, the pins 32 and 34 beinginclined in opposite directions at acute angles, e.g., of at least about30. Typically, the pins extend the distances referred to above inconnection with the carpet bar and the rug bar and ordinarily, althoughnot necessarily, the pins for engaging the rug will extend less far thanthe pins adapted to engage the carpet. When the holder unit 30 is used,it is engaged with the rug 26 with the pins 32 directed toward the freeedge of the rug and the pins 34 are then engaged with the carpet 28.Then the unit 10 is applied to the opposite end of the rug in the mannerpreviously described and, when the bar 16 is engaged with the carpetwhile the springs 20 are under tension, the rug will be firmly butremovably, secured in relation to the carpet against wrinkles, lateralmovement or displacement of any kind.

When it is desired to clean the rug and/or the carpet, it will beapparent that the securing devicesdescribed above can be readilydisengaged from both the rug and the carpet, and they can as readily bereused when it is again desired to secure the rug to the carpet.

It will be obvious that various changes and modifications in thestructure of the specific embodiments of the invention described aboveand illustrated in the drawing will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art. It is intended, therefore, that all matter contained in theforegoing description and in the drawing shall be interpreted asillustrative only and not as limitative of the invention as defined inthe appended claims.

I claim:

I. A device for removably securing a rug to an underlying carpet toinhibit relative movement between the rug and the carpet whichcomprises, in combination, a first substantiall flat elongated memberhaving pins extending from a face thereof adapted to engage thesuperposed rug, a second substantially flat elongated member having pinsextending from a face thereof adapted to engage the underlying carpet,said first member and said second member being in generally coplanarrelationship, and elastic means interconnecting the end portions of saidfirst and second members in said generally co-planar relationship withthe pins of the first member extending upwardly and the pins of thesecond member extending downardly when the two members are horizontallydisposed.

2. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein the pins in said first andsecond members extend at an acute angle,

with the pins in the first member and the pins in the second memberbeing inclined in opposite directions.

3. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein each member contains its pinsarranged in at least two rows, with the pins in one row being staggeredwith respect to the pins in an adjacent row.

4. A device for removably securing a rug to an underlying carpet toinhibit relative movement between the rug and the carpet which comprisesa first substantially flat member having pins extending from a facethereof adapted to engage the superposed rug, a second substantiallyflat member having pins extending from a face thereof adapted to engagethe underlying carpet, and elastic means interconnecting said first andsecond members in generally co-planar relationship with the pinsextending from. opposite faces of said members, and a third flat memberhaving pins extending from both its faces, the pins extending from oneface being adapted to engage the superposed rug and the pins extendingfrom the opposite face being adapted to engage the underlying carpet,the pins in said third flat member extending at an acute angle, with thepins extending from the two faces being inclined in opposite directions.

1. A device for removably securing a rug to an underlying carpet toinhibit relative movement between the rug and the carpet whichcomprises, in combination, a first substantiall flat elongated memberhaving pins extending from a face thereof adapted to engage thesuperposed rug, a second substantially flat elongated member having pinsextending from a face thereof adapted to engage the underlying carpet,said first member and said second member being in generally co-planarrelationship, and elastic means interconnecting the end portions of saidfirst and second members in said generally co-planar relationship withthe pins of the first member extending upwardly and the pins of thesecond member extending downardly when the two members are horizontallydisposed.
 2. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein the pins in saidfirst and second members extend at an acute angle, with the pins in thefirst member and the pins in the second member being inclined inopposite directions.
 3. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein eachmember contains its pins arranged in at least two rows, with the pins inone row being staggered with respect to the pins in an adjacent row. 4.A device for removably securing a rug to an underlying carpet to inhibitrelative movement between the rug and the carpet which comprises a firstsubstantially flat member having pins extending from a face thereofadapted to engage the superposed rug, a second substantially flat memberhaving pins extending from a face thereof adapted to engage theunderlying carpet, and elastic means interconnecting said first andsecond members in generally co-planar relationship with the pinsextending from opposite faces of said members, and a third flat memberhaving pins extending from both its faces, the pins extending from oneface being adapted to engage the superposed rug and the pins extendingfrom the opposite face being adapted to engage the underlying carpet,the pins in said third flat member extending at an acute angle, with thepins extending from the two faces being inclined in opposite directions.